By Ben Nicholson
August 5 – This past weekend saw a major breakthrough for soccer in the USA. Average attendance figures for the ten professional soccer matches of the weekend was higher than the average attendance figures for the 15 Major League Baseball games over the same period.
The six MLS games and four International Champions Cup tournament games earned an average in-stadium audience of 36,317, whilst the MLB averaged 34,179.
The average was given a helpful boost by the 109,318 fans that watched Manchester United beat Real Madrid in Ann Arbor, Michigan – which is not an area renown for soccer, nor even a state that houses an MLS team. In fact, the game was played in the University of Michigan’s American Football stadium. This attendance figure broke the record for the largest crowd ever for a soccer game in the USA.
Tickets ranged from $45 to $189, generating significant revenue for a pre-season game and indicating that Americans are prepared to pay top dollar to watch top football.
The previous US attendance record had stood for 30 years at 101,799 for the Olympic Games gold medal match between France and Brazil at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, in 1984.
The highest crowd in the MLS over the weekend was at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. This was the grand opening of San Jose Earthquake’s brand new stadium, and they christened it with 48,765 disciples.
The impressive attendances carried across into the women’s games well, as the Portland Thorns broke the National Women’s Soccer League attendance record in their match against Houston Dash, which was watched by 19,123.
Portland are setting the standard for attendance figures. Since the MLS team Portland Timbers joined the league in 2011 they have sold out every match they have hosted, rightly earning their city the nickname of Soccer City.
Below are the top 25 attendances of 2014 so far in the USA:
Attendance – match (date and location)
1. 109,318 – Man. United v Real Madrid (Aug. 2 in Ann Arbor, Mich.)
2. 86,432 – LA Galaxy v Man. United (July 23 in Pasadena, Calif.)
3. 84,876 – Mexico v Ecuador (May 31 in Arlington, Texas)
4. 69,364 – Liverpool v AC Milan (Aug. 2 in Charlotte, N.C.)
5. 68,212 – Mexico v Nigeria (March 5 in Atlanta)
6. 64,207 – Seattle Sounders v Portland Timbers (July 13 in Seattle)
7. 62,583 – Real Madrid v Inter Milan (July 26 in Berkeley, Calif.)
8. 62,462 – USA v Mexico (April 2 in Glendale, Ariz.)
9. 61,238 – Man. United v Inter Milan (July 29 in Landover, Md.)
10. 60,707 – Mexico v Bosnia-Herzegovina (June 3 in Chicago)
11. 57,512 – Real Madrid v Roma (July 29 in Dallas)
12. 56,385 – Seattle Sounders v Tottenham (July 19 in Seattle)
13. 56,292 – Mexico v Portugal (June 6 in Foxboro, Mass.)
14. 54,117 – Man. United v Roma (July 26 in Denver)
15. 53,407 – Mexico v South Korea (Jan. 29 in San Antonio, Texas)
16. 53,267 – Spain v. El Salvador (June 7 in Landover, Md.)
17. 52,961 – D.C. United v Fulham (July 26 in Jacksonville, Fla.)
18. 52,033 – USA v Nigeria (June 7 in Jacksonville, Fla.)
19. 50,006 – San Jose Earthquakes v LA Galaxy (June 28 in Palo Alto, Calif.)
20. 49,746 – Seattle Sounders v San Jose Earthquakes (May 17 in Seattle)
21. 49,653 – Liverpool v Man. City (July 30 in Bronx, N.Y.)
22. 48,765 – San Jose Earthquakes v Seattle Sounders (Aug. 2 in Santa Clara, Calif.)
23. 46,063 – Portugal v Ireland (June 10 in East Rutherford, N.J.)
24. 45,329 – England v Honduras (June 7 in Miami Gardens, Fla.)
25. 39,304 – Seattle Sounders v LA Galaxy (July 28 in Seattle)
Only five out of these 25 games were MLS matches, 10 were friendly internationals (six of which involved Mexico) and 10 were club friendlies. This speaks of the Hispanic population that are contributing to the interest in soccer in the US as well as a seeming preference for club soccer outside of the MLS, even if they are ‘friendly’ matches.
Below are the top 20 attendance figures of 2013 in the USA:
Attendance – match (competition) – location
1. 81,410 – USA v Honduras – Mexico v Panama (Gold Cup semifinals) in Arlington, Texas
2. 71,124 – Brazil v Honduras (friendly) in Miami Gardens, Fla.
3. 70,540 – USA v El Salvador – Honduras v Costa Rica (Gold Cup quarterfinals) in Baltimore
4. 67,385 – Seattle Sounder v Portland Timbers (MLS) in Seattle
5. 67,273 – Real Madrid v Chelsea – LA Galaxy v AC Milan (Guinness Int’l Champions Cup) in Miami Gardens, Fla.
6. 66,216 – Seattle Sounders v LA Galaxy (MLS) in Seattle
7. 62,310 – Brazil v Portugal (friendly) in Foxboro, Mass.
8. 62,107 – Mexico v Nigeria (friendly) in Houston
9. 57,920 – USA v Panama (Gold Cup final) in Chicago
10. 56,822 – Mexico v Panama – Canada v Martinique (Gold Cup Group A) in Pasadena Calif.
11. 55,107 – Seattle Sounders v Real Salt Lake (MLS) in Seattle
12. 54,229 – Mexico v Trinidad & Tobago – Panama v Cuba (Gold Cup quarterfinals) in Atlanta
13. 54,184 – Real Madrid v Inter Milan (friendly) in St. Louis
14. 53,679 – Seattle Sounders v Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS) in Seattle
15. 50,028 – San Jose Earthquakes v LA Galaxy (MLS) in Stanford, Calif.
16. 49,165 – Argentina v Ecuador (friendly) in East Rutherford, N.J.
17. 48,263 – Manchester City v Chelsea (friendly) in St. Louis
18. 47,359 – USA v Germany (friendly) in Washington, D.C.
19. 43,345 – Mexico v Denmark (friendly) in Glendale, Ariz.
20. 41,983 – Chelsea v Inter Milan (Guinness Int’l Champions Cup) in Indianapolis, Ind.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1734800124labto1734800124ofdlr1734800124owedi1734800124sni@n1734800124osloh1734800124cin.n1734800124eb1734800124